Israel Out of Lebanon and Gaza!
End U.S. Aid to the Colonial-SettlerState
of Israel

by
George Saunders

Imitating George W. Bush’s massive use of air power to “shock
and awe” an entire population, Israeli air strikes and naval bombardments at
time of writing (July 22) have killed a reported 350 Lebanese and wounded more
than 1,000, mostly civilians. The actual toll of death and injury is
probably much higher. Israel’s
destruction of communications and other infrastructure in Lebanon make it
impossible to know exactly how many have been bombed to death or injured. The economic
destruction from this man-made disaster has additionally caused losses of
millions of dollars and has probably set back the economy of Lebanon by more
than a decade.

The government of Israel, with full support from its U.S.
imperialist puppet master, gives as its excuse for
this genocidal bombing campaign the “right to defend itself.” But it was not
attacked. The pretext for this massive bombardment of an entire population was
that in a clash with Hizbullah guerrillas along the
Lebanon-Israel border some Israeli soldiers were captured and/or killed. Yet
such fighting between Israeli forces and Lebanon-based Hizbullah
guerrillas has been going on for decades. And when Israeli forces, as they
frequently do, capture and abduct people outside Israel’s borders, no military power
retaliates with indiscriminate slaughter of the Israeli population.

Israel has been preparing to launch
an attack like this for more than a year, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
The July 12, 2006, clash with Hizbullah guerrillas
was merely a pretext that the Israeli military-political leadership was waiting
for.

Visitors to the Labor Standard web site may find the
following information useful, in addition to articles about the war on Lebanon already
posted on our site. Connecticut peace
activists put together the following background information on events leading
up to Israel’s genocidal
attack on Lebanon.
In addition to the sources recommended below, we recommend the web site of the
AlternativeInformationCenter, which is supported by antiwar
opposition groups inside Israel.

The following is some basic
information to help with writing letters to media editors:

1. Background
to Israel’s attack on Gaza.

On June 24, Israel
abducted a doctor and his brother from Gaza.
Their fate is unknown.

The next day Palestinian militants abducted an Israeli
soldier. They agreed to free him if Israel would release the
Palestinian women and children kept inside Israeli prisons. (There are
10,000 Christians and Muslims in Israeli prisons—300 of whom are children under
the age of 18.)

Israel
then began bombing Gaza. The
only power plant in the area was destroyed, leaving many without clean
water. Bridges and roads were destroyed. Soldiers and tanks rolled
in, threatening a population already facing a humanitarian crisis caused by Israel’s
border closures and U.S,/European sanctions. One
hundred people in Gaza
have been killed (as of July 19) and most of their democratically elected
leaders have been abducted.

2. The attack on Lebanon

[On July 12] Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers. Their
intent was to arrange for a prisoner exchange. (Officially Israel is
holding three Lebanese prisoners but there are allegations of hundreds missing.)
The timing of the Hezbollah action suggests that it was partly intended to
reduce the intensity of the attacks in Gaza by
forcing Israel
to fight in two places simultaneously.

Israel
then launched a bombing campaign that has since attacked over 100 villages,
towns, and cities in Lebanon.
As of July 20, 330 people had been killed and 500,000 people displaced. Hezbollah
responded with rockets that have killed 25 Israelis, mostly soldiers.

Israel
claims it has only been bombing “legitimate targets.” Here is a short list of
some of these targets:

The U.S.
gives Israel more aid than
any other country, even more than all of black Africa. Estimates
range as high as 5 or 6 billion tax dollars a year. Therefore, the U.S. government has a strong role in deciding Israel’s
actions.

In this current conflict, the U.S.
has supported Israel’s
aggression in Lebanon
by doing the following:

Preventing the United Nations from calling
for a cease-fire [by using its Security Council veto]. The U.S. was the
only member of the 15-nation Security Council that opposed action against the
violence.

The Bush administration has given Israel permission to continue the
attacks for another week, according to Israeli and European sources (on July
19). If the administration leaders can stop this conflict in a week, why
can’t they stop it immediately?

The administration has rejected calls for a cease-fire in
interviews and meetings with leaders of other countries. There was even a
resounding “no” to the Lebanese Prime Minister’s appeal [that Israel be
stopped].

There has been no discussion of cessation of arms to Israel. The
U.S. Senate voted unanimously to back Israel’s attacks, placing all the
blame on other parties. [The House of Representatives followed suit, with only
8 voting against.]

Following is a sample “letter to the editor”:

Letter to the Danbury, Connecticut,
News Times

Israel using
U.S. aid for actions in Gaza

July 18, 2006

In Israel, Jewish citizens have
rights. Palestinian Christians and Muslims, however, are denied basic rights by
the Israeli military that rules over them.

Gaza
has been turned into an open-air prison, with Christians and Muslims denied
freedom of movement.

For no reason at all, the Israelis have been using sonic
blasts over the skies of Gaza,
which shatter windows, cause miscarriages, and inflict psychological trauma
among children.

After the elections [in January 2006], Israel and the United States were angry that
Palestinians didn't pick the leaders our governments preferred. Currently, they
are being punished by harsh sanctions, leaving many Christians and Muslims
without food or basic medical supplies.

This hypocrisy is being perpetrated while the U.S. government
claims to be “spreading democracy.”

And now, while they are starving (over 70 percent of Gazans live on less than $2 a day), the Israelis invade.
They kill innocent people, destroy electric facilities and bridges, and leave
people without clean water.

In addition, the Israelis kidnapped the elected leaders of Palestine. And it’s all
done with U.S.
tax money.

Palestinian militants captured a soldier who was enforcing
the illegal and immoral occupation of Palestine
(not a civilian).

Yet the militants agreed to free him, if Israel would
release the Palestinian women and children kept inside Israeli prisons.
(Israelis kidnap men, women, and children to detain in prisons. At least a
thousand of these prisoners have been charged with nothing.)

Even the father of the captured soldier has said openly that
these actions are not for the purpose of freeing his son.

We have to end our support for these atrocities. We should
withhold our billions of aid dollars until Israel grants rights not just to
Jews but to Palestinian Christians and Muslims as well.